This is my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie, with a soft and gooey middle, crisp edges, and a generous helping of chocolate chips. No chilling or wait time required.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe - Served on Wax paper on Wooden board

Having tried a zillion chocolate chip cookie recipes over the past 10 years, this one has solidified its place as the most satisfying for what I want in a cookie.

I know this is quite subjective.

Frankly, there are many different styles, sizes, and textures for chocolate chip cookies and I enjoy many of them.

But there are a few qualities that are most important to me, which I’ll share below.

For me, these conveniently fast no chill chocolate chip cookies also happen to be the very best chocolate chip cookies!

Demand #1: I don’t want to wait for chilled dough – I want cookies NOW

I’ve played around with “aging” chocolate chip cookie dough after reading articles about how much better it makes the cookies.

Is it better?

Maybe a little, but truthfully, I care most about how fast a recipe is. I hate waiting for doughs to chill. I am impatient. Me want cookie NOW. 

So this recipe is quick. There’s zero chill time whatsoever, and you don’t even have to set out butter ahead of time to soften, as this recipe uses melted butter.

And the flavor is still plenty delicious without “aging.”

Simple Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe - Shown with Gooey Center by hand Holding It Up

Sure, every once in a while I’ll crave those crispy Tate’s-style cookies that are completely crunchy the whole way through, but my ideal cookie has crispness, softness, and gooeyness.

I want it all.

These cookies have a crunchy edge, with a soft, melty, gooey interior.

You can also bake a little less or a little more to get it even closer to your preference, if you like it one way over the other.

Demand #3. No weird ingredients or equipment, please

I’ve seen various “secret ingredients” and little tricks claiming to make chocolate chip cookies different, but none that I’ve tried have proved to be worthwhile.

This cookie has only the classic ingredients: unsalted butter, sugar, all purpose flour, egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.

No cornstarch, no cream cheese, no boiling water, no cinnamon (?!), no cream of tartar, no lemon (why?!?!), and so on.

For equipment, you really just need the simple things, like bowls, a whisk, and a spatula.

I whip the cookies up with a hand mixer, but you can totally do this by hand too. No stand mixer required. although if you want to use one, use the paddle attachment for mixing.

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Served on Parchment Paper with Chocolate Chips on Wooden Board

This is a recipe I’ve been playing with since 2010, and it has been tweaked bit by bit from where it started, which was probably something close to the 1930s Tollhouse recipe. Here are the noteworthy features:

  • Melted butter instead of softened makes these slightly chewy chocolate chip cookies, with crisp edges. It’s my favorite texture.
  • A 2:1 ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar also gives it a chewier, softer texture. Don’t worry, these aren’t crazy chewy like Molasses Cookies, it’s subtle. Feel free to use either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
  • Scooped mounds of cookie dough gives the cookies ridges, an awesome texture, and somehow, a more even bake. Don’t roll the cookies.
  • After testing these cookies on multiple cooking surfaces, I find that they brown best and spread the least on a Silpat. You may use parchment paper or bake directly on the pan though, if you’d like, but there will be slight variations with each surface.

Step by Step Overview:

Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated white sugar in a large bowl:

Butter, Brown Sugar, and Granulated Sugar in a Bowl

Mix that together just enough so that the three ingredients are smooth and combined, then add a room temperature egg and vanilla extract:

Egg and Vanilla Extract Added to the Bowl

I quickly warm the egg by putting it in warm water for a few minutes. Otherwise, a cold egg straight from the fridge will solidify the melted butter and make it uneven.

Mix together until smooth, then add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt):

Flour Added to the Wet Ingredients in Glass Bowl

When the flour mixture has *almost* disappeared into the dough, add some semisweet chocolate chips:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in Bowl with Chocolate Chips on Top

Mix a little more, until the streaks of flour have been absorbed:

Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mixed in Glass Bowl with Beaters

And that’s it for the dough! Required chilling time is…zero minutes. Let’s scoop!

Use a medium cookie scoop (#40/1.5 tbsp) (affiliate) to scoop mounds of cookie dough onto a Silpat lined baking sheet:

Portioning Out the Cookie Dough with a Cookie Scoop on Silicone Mat

Don’t have a silicone mat?

You can use parchment paper instead for your prepared baking sheet.

If you don’t have that either, you can put the dough directly on the baking sheet, but your baked cookies may be a lot more brown on the bottom. Start checking for doneness a few minutes early.

By the way, I tested rolling the scoops into smooth cookie dough balls in the palms of my hands, and it is MUCH better scooped.

The little ridges and unevenness here somehow gives it a more even, desirable bake in the oven.

Finally, this is optional, but for best results, I prefer to sprinkle the top of each cookie with fleur de sel.

Sprinkling Dough Balls with Sea Salt

This gives you really stellar cookies. The salt is so lovely as a contrast to the sweetness.

Bake the cookies for about 11-12 minutes at an oven temperature of 350 degrees F.

You can see that the edges are golden brown, but they look pretty colorless on top:

Freshly Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies on Silicone Mat

Even though it may look too soon to pull from the oven, that is the perfect time to pull them.

The cookies will cook a little bit more outside the oven, and after a few minutes of resting on the cookie sheet, the domed shape will fall a little bit (no need to move the cookies to a cooling rack).

You can see here, if you look closely and compare it to the photo above, that they’ve flattened a little bit:

Quick Chocolate Chip Cookie Cooling On Silicone Mat

I think they are best when enjoyed warm, so dig in!

Note: I have also tested these as larger cookies, scooped using a large #60 3T scoop (affiliate). They need a few more minutes of bake time, but they are also delicious (but I like the #40 size better). The large cookie scoop cookies tend to brown more on the edges, if that’s your thing:

Splitting a Chocolate Chip Cookie with Hand to Show Warm melty Chocolate Inside

Peanut Butter Cookies,  Monster Cookies, and Snickerdoodles are some of my other favorite cookies to bake, fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!

Tips and FAQ

How do you store homemade chocolate chip cookies?

You can keep these at room temperature, in an airtight container, for several days, and they’ll still be soft and delicious. They are best fresh out of the oven, but leftovers are easily devoured too.

Can you freeze the cookie dough?

Like other chocolate chip cookie recipes, dough scoops can be frozen and baked later, with a few more minutes of bake time added at the end. I find that they don’t spread as evenly as freshly baked though.

My cookies were overbaked. What happened?

If you don’t have an oven thermometer, please get one. I’ve used a lot of different ovens over the years, and it’s incredible how inaccurate they can be. Often times overbaked cookies are just the result of an oven that is too hot. Also, do not add convection, which changes baking time pretty dramatically.

Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Served on Wax paper on Wooden board

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 18
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 11 minutes
Total Time: 21 minutes
These Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft and gooey in the middle, crisp on the edges, and loaded with chocolate chips.
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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg at room temperature*
  • 7.5 ounces all purpose flour, by weight (1.5 cups, if measuring)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • fleur de sel for sprinkling on top, optional

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.**
  • In a large heatproof bowl, melt the butter in the microwave until it’s just barely melted, watching closely that it doesn’t come to a boil or get too hot. If the butter becomes overheated, make sure you let it cool down before proceeding.
  • Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl, and mix to combine, either with a hand mixer or by hand with a whisk. Only mix it just enough so that it’s relatively smooth.
  • Add the vanilla extract and egg, and mix again until just combined. 
  • In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, then add this to the wet ingredients. Stir until the flour has almost disappeared, then add the chocolate chips, and continue stirring until the dry ingredients have been absorbed.
  • Use a medium scoop (#40/1.5T) to portion the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. You should get around 18 cookies, so you can either bake two batches one after another (my preference) or add another baking tray. 
  • Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with fleur de sel, if using, then bake for 11-12 minutes, until the cookies look slightly golden on the edges, and soft in the middle, but with no visible glistening rawness in the center. 
  • Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool for a few minutes, during which time they’ll flatten a bit and cook a little more. Then enjoy while warm! 

Notes

*No need to remember to pull the egg out in advance. Just put the egg in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, and it’s ready to go. The reason we warm the egg slightly is because otherwise a cold egg from the fridge will re-solidify some of the melted butter, and we want to keep everything smooth.
**I have tested this recipe on several baking surfaces, and I find that the cookies brown the best on the bottom and spread the least when baked on a silicone mat, like a Silpat. Parchment paper is the second best option, followed by directly baking on the sheet pan. The cookies will turn out fine on any baking surface, just know there will be slight variations.

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 107mg, Potassium: 81mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 180IU, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 1.3mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Author: Fifteen Spatulas

Post updated in March 2019. Originally published December 2010.